| THE
FUTURE OF THE LONDON TAXI By Roy McMaster, LTI Director of Retail and Marketing |
 Roy McMaster the Manchester Taxi Owners Association voted almost unanimously (99
per cent) in favour of keeping the traditional black cab even
against a background of Metrocab being in receivership. In Leeds and
Bristol we have taken between 70 and 80 per cent of the market and in
Basingstoke the story is very much the same with 16 drivers - faced with a
choice of MPV's or purpose-built cabs - choosing to buy new Y-registration
TX1's. Blueline Taxis of Harrogate have also chosen TX1's over MPV's
because of the superior residual value." |
|
| LTI's Managing Director of
Retail and Marketing, Roy McMaster has expressed total confidence in the
future of the purpose built taxi market in spite of the recent downturn in
sales and current problems involving Metrocab. He has told Call Sign that
there were a number of very encouraging signs to justify a positive
outlook for the future of the London 'black' taxi. When asked about the latest half-year results from LTI's parent company, Manganese Bronze Holdings plc, he commented: "The structure of our business, with a net asset value of over £38 million, is more than capable of handling a market downturn. The downturn was only in London and was due in no small part to a massive increase in insurance and fuel costs. However, confidence is starting to come back with residual values improving, strong takings on the streets and radio circuits such as Dial-a-Cab reporting some excellent results. The future is looking much better." Mr McMaster added that London TX1 orders were improving and that gave a clear sign that they were getting back on track. "In fact" he said, "sales of the TX1 were up by a record 28 per cent outside London during |
the six months from August 2000
- an all time record level. This is an excellent performance and remember,
this is where we are supposed to be facing unprecedented competition from
MPV's!" He said the company's confidence in product quality had benefited customers through extension of the warranty period to three years/100,000 miles, matching the highest warranty levels found in the motor industry. He added: "All the product improvements we have been making - and there are more to come as it is a continuous process - have produced the highest Customer Satisfaction Index LTI and its customers have enjoyed since the launch of TX1." Turning to Scotland, where the Peugeot Euro 7 distributor is based, Roy McMaster claimed that LTI's main dealership Patons, was achieving record sales levels. "Professional taxi drivers the length and breadth of the country are making their choice of vehicle a no-contest decision. Four hundred members of the Birmingham and Solihull Taxi Association recently voted on the issue of whether to accept converted Peugeot and Mercedes MPV's for use as taxis and 94 per cent voted to retain the traditional London style cab. More recently, members of |
|
 |
Powered by NetXPosure |
| Copyright © 1997-2001 Dial-A-Cab Ltd, All rights reserved. |